The Eugene LaFond Medal

Eugene LaFond Medal recipient 2017

The 2017 Eugene LaFond Medal is awarded to Dr. Jonathan Durgadoo from Mauritius for his oral presentation "Indian Ocean sources of Agulhas leakage". This was delivered on August 29, 2017 within the IAPSO-IAMAS joint symposium "The Second International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE-2) and related oceanic and coupled atmospheric research in the Indian Ocean" during the IAPSO-IAMAS-IAGA 2017 Joint Assembly "Good Hope for Earth Sciences" in Cape Town, South Africa.Using high-resolution numerical model outputs, he analysed and presented the mean pathways, transit timescales, and transformation of waters flowing through the Indian Ocean on their way toward the South Atlantic. He showed that the Indian Ocean exports at least 7.9 Sv from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and thereby quantified the strength of the upper cell of the global conveyor belt.